One of the stories that is all the rage today is how Peter Townshend is speaking out about how there is going to be a hearing loss epidemic because of “the iPod”.
Some might think it is a bit coincidental that all this buzz is coming out right around the same time that the who is annoucing their big “reunion tour”..which is funny by itself since they have a “reunion” almost every year. but that is a side note.
Pete Townshend a complete tool for a variety of reasons which I will conveinantly list for you:
- He has been playing the guitar since what, the early 60s? so after over 35 years of being in and around loud music, live performances and god knows what else, he came to the conclusion that his hearing loss is because of “the headphones I used in the recording studio”
- He decided that he played a crucial role in “inventing and refining a type of music that makes its principal components deaf” how full of yourself do you need to be? guess what, music was going along on its own road long before the who existed, and if they never did exist I would be willing to bet whatever people were listening to today would be played just as loud, and it would probably be the same music all together.
- he is yet another moron who refers to anything that plays music as “an iPod“. When I still had my mp3 player, I had a Rio Karma, so I guess I shouldn’t be worrying about anything, because it wasn’t an iPod, and even though the music coming out of my computer and into my headphones can get plenty loud, I still don’t have to worry. It’s not an iPod.
Deep within the crap he is preaching is a grain of truth. Headphones obviously can cause hearing loss. I don’t need any research to prove that. I also know that large amplifier stacks blasting music into your face during countless tours can cause hearing loss as well.
The real problem that around now, and yes, the infamous iPod is partially responsible for this (as is basically any piece of handheld personal audio equipment) is the use of “earbud” style headphones. Sony and every other headphone manufacturer has been making them for years. For the record, the earbuds that come with the iPod are actually pretty crappy audio wise (and color wise, and in every other way)
The reason why earbud style headphones are a problem is because the driver in the headphones is partially in your ear. But they do nothing at all to block out any surrounding ambient noise, so in order to hear the music (or drown out your co-workers) you crank up the volume. That loud volume, combined with the driver being in your ear, equals to some really loud localized sounds hitting your ear for prolonged periods of time, which…causes hearing damage. I read all this in an article last month. It was from a reuters story, and actually has some research behind it, as opposed to some lame guitarist wildly making claims.
The easy solution is to buy good headphones. The fancy overpriced noise cancelling headphones that companies like Bose are making do a real good job of blocking out ambient noise, and so does the less expensive, but still plenty of money “in-ear” headphones that companies like Shure, Etymotic, and to a lesser extent even companies like Sony. These are basically earplugs with headphones built into them. The sound is great, and it blocks out everything around you just like a pair of regular ear plugs would. Obviously if you really like listening to insanely loud music, either way your going to damage your hearing but for the regular average joe, you’ll be much better off, get superior sound quality to crappy ear-bud style headphones, and above all, be able to tune out everything going on in that harse cruel world around you.
The gist of my whole story is that Pete Townshend is a tool, the iPod sucks, the iPods headphones suck, go buy a decent pair of headphones, and you’ll be just fine.
Also, I have hearing damage. I also listen to music often, but I am willing to bet that the hearing damage was from when I took a “charge” from my fathers impact hammer, which is basically a bullet, and smashed it with a hammer in our not-yet-completed cellar. The cellar makes a great place to echo loud sounds. I would put the blame on that, not my headphones.
Or maybe I just got hearing damage from listening to The Who. Thankfully I don’t make a habit out of that one.
Now go read the real article, its much better than anything Petey boy has to say